(Adds details, background)
LONDON, Aug 24 (Reuters) - The number of mortgages approvedby British banks fell to its lowest in a year in the monthfollowing Britain's vote to leave the European Union, but robustcredit growth added to signs that the decision has had littleimpact on consumers so far.
British banks approved 37,662 mortgages for house purchaseslast month, down from 39,763 in June and 19 percent lower thanin July 2015, the British Bankers' Association said.
Net credit card lending rose in July by 291 million poundsafter a 283 million pound increase in June, a 20 percentincrease on the same time a year ago.
Britain voted to leave the EU on June 23 - a decisioneconomists said could tip the economy into recession but whichhas so far had a tamer immediate impact on consumers than manyhad predicted.
"Consumers were clearly prepared to continue borrowing ontheir credit cards and spend in July despite confidence slumpingin the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote," Howard Archer,chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight said.
The BBA data chimed with strong retail sales data last weekthat showed the Brexit shock had little immediate impact onconsumer spending, but analysts fear it might only be a matterof time before it deteriorates.
"We suspect that the fundamentals for consumers will becomeless favourable over the coming months with purchasing powerlikely diminishing and the labour market softening," Archersaid.
The BBA figures do not include lending by mutually ownedbuilding societies, which accounts for around third ofmortgages. The next release of the more comprehensive Bank ofEngland lending data is next Tuesday. (Reporting by Andy Bruce, Writing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa;Editing by Alison Williams)